Universal to Distribute HIT Content

HIT Entertainment, a subsidiary of Mattel, has given Universal Studios Home Entertainment distribution rights to its family content library including “Thomas & Friends,” “Angelina Ballerina,” “Barney & Friends,” “Bob the Builder,” “Pingu,” “Kipper” and more.

Universal will now distribute, sell and market hundreds of titles from HIT’s extensive content library in the U.S. and Canada across Blu-ray, DVD, electronic sell-through, subscription video-on-demand and video-on-demand platforms beginning Oct. 1.

In addition, the two companies will work together to distribute new content produced by HIT including the upcoming Thomas & Friends feature length special, Tale of the Brave, due out this fall.

With the HIT partnership, Universal now distributes all of Mattel’s top brands in North America from HIT’s preschool portfolio to Mattel’s girls’ and boys brands including Barbie, Monster High, Hot Wheels and American Girl.

“With its strong expertise and footprint in content distribution across both brick-and-mortar and digital retail platforms, we are thrilled to partner with Universal Studios Home Entertainment to distribute and market HIT’s preschool franchises in North America,” says Sid Mathur, vice president, The Americas, HIT Entertainment. “As consumer options to view content increase and evolve, we look forward to working together with Universal to leverage our popular evergreen portfolio and offer families the best preschool offerings in home entertainment.”